In "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant, greed is the main character of the story. Mme. Loisel is driven to become an elegant, high class citizen for one night. In her journey to reach social acceptance, she becomes greedy and wants more and more of things she can't afford. This greed is what lands her and her husband in ten years of debt and poverty. Mme. Loisel's desire to better herself influences this entire story and her greed controls the plot of the story and is the root of the hardships that the Loisel family goes through.

In the story, M. Loisel is a hardworking lower class clerk with intentions to please his beautiful wife, Mathilde. M. Loisel pulls some strings and receives an invitation to a party with high ranking public officials. This kind gesture from M. Loisel sparks the greed and downfall of Mathilde. When they receive the invitation, Mathilde becomes distraught because she does not have a dress to wear to an event of this nature. After she complains, M. Loisel selflessly gives her 400 francs that he had been saving for himself to buy a gun "He had grown a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer."(35) When seeing how willing M. Loisel was to give up his personal interests for his wife, the reader begins to see how he was satisfied with what he had and did not crave an advancement in social status like his wife. At this point, the reader begins to feel sorrow for M. Loisel because of how good he is to his wife despite the fact that she continually wants more. Mme. Loisel goes and buys her dress and is preparing for the big night when she becomes distraught once again, she has a break down because she does not have jewelry that compares to the other women's. M. Loisel quickly solves the problem by suggesting she go to her friend Mme. Forestier and borrow a few pieces of jewelry. Mme. Loisel falls in love with a diamond necklace and decides to take that one. What Mme. Loisel does not know is that this decision to borrow this necklace will alter her life forever. This greedy decision to be someone she is not results in a hard life which is evident at the end of the story. At the party, she is one of the most attractive women there, and she knows it. Every male introduces themselves to her because they are curious who this beautiful, unknown woman was. Mme. Loisel has a great time and does not leave the party until after four A.M. After arriving home and undressing, Mathilde realizes she has lost the necklace. M. Loisel stops what he is doing and retraces the whole route of where they have been that night in search of the necklace. "And he went out. She sat waiting on a chair in her ball dress" (37). His willingness outweighs her desire for an elegant lifestyle and it reassures the reader that the greed and self-complacency she has built up inside of her has not changed at all through the course of the story. She sits and waits for him to look for something she lost. This action can also hint at how much she takes advantage of him. He realizes the necklace is untraceable and returns home empty handed. He tells Mathilde to write to Mme. Forestier and say that the clasp was accidently broken and that it is being repaired. This buys the Loisels time to keep searching for the necklace and ultimately decide on buying a replacement for 36,000 francs. The necklace puts them in debt for the next ten years and during these ten years, Mathilde becomes very ugly and unrecognizable. M. Loisel slaves away working all day long trying to repay loans he had been granted to raise money for the necklace. When Mathilde sees Mme. Forestier she realizes there is no harm in telling her that she had to buy a new necklace to replace the one she borrowed. After saying this, Mme. Forestier explains that the necklace she borrowed was only worth five hundred francs. Flashback to the decision Mme. Loisel makes by choosing to borrow this necklace. She could have bought a fake one and looked equally as stunning the night of the party that ends up ruining her life. The story ends with that this cliffhanger "Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!" and leaves the reader wondering how Mme. Losiel would have reacted (39). After seeing her character develop throughout the story, it seems reasonable that Mme. Loisel would have a mental breakdown and enter into a deep depression. The ending of the story leaves us wondering about what is next in the future of the Loisels.

The contrast between M. Loisel and Mme. Loisel and her use of greed to better herself is what made this story so fascinating. He is a hardworking man who is trying to provide the best life possible for his wife who is trapped in a social class not suitable to her. On the other hand, she is enjoying life and counting on her husband to meet and exceed all of her needs. It seems like she is so greedy about her lifestyle she takes advantage of how willing M. Loisel is to please her. He is by her side throughout the story and never waivers in being there for her and never fails to please her every need. Even when she costs him his life savings and more, he still supports her and works harder than ever to restore their money and erase debts.

The concept of greed and a desire for a better life is prevalent throughout the whole story, and ultimately leads to a huge set back in the lives of the Loisels. Mme. Loisel's desire to better herself ultimately hurts her and her husband. Mathilde had a desire to fit into a social class that she did not belong in, which is evident when the author says "She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station" (33). When Mme. Loisel says this, she is displaying her desire to fit in to the upper class but lacks the worldly objects to meet these status requirements. Greed consumed Mme. Loisel and made her try and transform herself into an elegant, rich woman. She might have had the night of her life, but there is no way it could have been worth 10 years of debt and depression. The moral of this story is to be satisfied with what you have and work hard towards your goals without skipping key steps along the path. There seems to be a time when each individual reaches a time in life where they are satisfied with their social status and satisfied with everything they have, and this point seems to be where life becomes most enjoyable. After being in such a bad place, like M. and Mme. Loisel, the freedom from debt and another chance to be back on top of life would be a huge burden lifted off of anybody in that situation. Greed drove Mme. Loisel throughout the story and put her through such a rough patch in her life. Realizing that she is greedy is the only way that she can change her quality of life, or else the cycle will repeat itself in a different form.

